David Sherman Boardman was the youngest child of Captain Sherman Boardman and Sarah Bostwick Boardman. Boardman was often ill as a child and was unable to walk to town to attend school. Consequently, he first boarded and studied with Colonel William Taylor, a recent Yale graduate, and then studied with Rev. Stanley Griswold. Boardman was admitted to Yale in his junior year. After a single term he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated in 1793 after only two years. After attending the Litchfield Law School the same year, Boardman returned to New Milford, Connecticut to open a law office and helped to found the New Milford Union Library in 1796.

Boardman had an impressive legal and political career. From 1805 to 1821 he served as the Judge of Probate for New Milford. In 1808, ...he was elected as a member of the Connecticut Society of Arts and Science. In addition, he served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1812 to 1829. Boardman was appointed the Chief Judge of the Litchfield County Court from 1831 to 1836. He also pursued some scholarly interest. Boardman became the Vice-President of the Connecticut Historical Society when it was founded, and in 1860 published the book Early Lights of the Litchfield Bar. He died four years later, on December 2, 1864 in New Milford.

Boardman married Charlotte Taylor, and the couple had six children, three of whom died in infancy. His two daughters, Helen and Kate, donated their family home to the New Milford Historical Society in 1922. He and his wife were interred at Center Cemetery in New Milford.[more][less]

Quotes:

"If I mistake not, you first took your
station in Court as Clerk on the very day I
entered my name as a student at law in
Judge Reeve=s office_ "
Boardman, David Sherman to Wolcott, Frederick, 1836 June 13. Wolcott Family Collection, Series 1, Folder 6. Litchfield Historical Society Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library.

Education

Years at LLS:

1793

Other Education:

Graduated from Yale College in 1793.

Profession / Service

Profession:

Lawyer; Political Office

Admitted To Bar:

1795

State Posts:

State Representative (CT) 1812-1829

Local Posts:

Judge of Probate (New Milford, CT) 1805-1821Chief Judge of the County Court (Litchfield County, CT) 1831-1836

The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.

Orcutt, Samuel. History of the town of New Milford and Bridgewater, Connecticut, 1703-1882. Hartford, CT: Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company, 1882.

Schroeder, D.D., John Frederick. Memoir of the Life and Character of Mrs. Mary Anna Boardman. New Haven, 1849.

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